What It Means at Lamp Rynearson
“We don’t need everyone to think the same. We need everyone moving in the same direction.”
One of the biggest misconceptions about strong organizations is that everyone agrees all the time.
In my experience, some of the best decisions start with people looking at the same situation and seeing something completely different. One person sees a risk. Another sees an opportunity. One is focused on the immediate challenge while someone else is thinking five or ten years down the road. Neither is necessarily right or wrong, they’re simply bringing a different perspective to the conversation.
That’s something I’ve come to appreciate over the years at Lamp Rynearson. Our people bring a wide range of expertise, experience, and viewpoints to their work every day. When everyone sees an issue exactly the same way, we’re probably not looking at it deeply enough.
The Difference Between Agreement and Alignment
I believe progress happens better in a room full of thoughtful disagreement and discourse, rather than a room full of simple agreement. Different disciplines are supposed to see things differently. That’s why we bring people with different expertise to the table in the first place.
The challenge comes when discussion turns into indecision. At some point, the questions have been asked, and the concerns have been raised. A decision may not be everyone’s first choice, but a decision still has to be made. Agreement means everyone would have chosen the same path. Alignment means people are willing to support the path that was chosen and commit to making it successful.
The DC West Athletic Complex in Valley, Nebraska, is a good example. Our civil engineers focused on grading, drainage, and floodplain challenges. Our landscape architects were thinking about accessibility, circulation, and how students, families, and community members would experience the space.
While they approached the project from different angles, each perspective added value to the conversation. At the heart of it all was a common purpose: creating a place that would support and serve the community for years to come.
Why Alignment Matters
The reality is that not every decision gets made in a conference room. Every day, people across our offices are working through challenges, responding to clients, and figuring out how to keep projects moving.
A project manager in Kansas City, an engineer in Omaha, and a surveyor in Fort Collins aren’t checking in before every decision—they’re empowered to make the decisions necessary to keep moving forward. What matters is that they understand what we’re trying to accomplish.
When that happens, people can move quickly and confidently. When it doesn’t, even well-intentioned decisions can pull a project in different directions.
That’s especially important in our work. The projects may vary—from community planning and transportation improvements to water systems and site development—but none of them succeed because of one person or one discipline. They succeed when people bring their own expertise to the table to collaborate while staying focused on the same outcome.
The Role of Leadership
I’ve never believed leadership is about having all the answers. And I’ve certainly never believed it’s about convincing everyone that you’re right.
A big part of leadership is creating an environment where people are willing to challenge assumptions, ask difficult questions, and offer a different perspective. Some of the best decisions I’ve been part of started with healthy disagreement.
But leaders also have a responsibility to know when it’s time to stop debating and start moving. People deserve to understand the decision, the reasoning behind it, and what’s expected going forward.
As an employee-owned company, that’s especially important. People care deeply about the future of the firm because they have a stake in it. That’s one of our greatest strengths.
People don’t expect every decision to go their way. What they do expect is to be heard. In my experience, that’s how trust is built.
The Power of We
We have people in different offices, disciplines, and stages of their careers. The work may look different, but our purpose is the same: leaving a legacy of enduring improvements in the communities we serve.
As we continue to grow, my commitment is that we’ll lean into the willingness to challenge ideas, ask difficult questions, and think differently. Those conversations have helped shape our firm for more than six decades.
I also believe we’ll move forward together because of our ability to make a decision, commit to it, and see it through. We don’t need everyone to think the same. We need everyone to move in the same direction. That’s the Power of We.
— Dave McIvor, PE, CEO & President, Lamp Rynearson
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This CEO Moment reflects how we think about leadership, trust, and organizational alignment at Lamp Rynearson.
If you’d like to go deeper:
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